ROB COTTLE

If you love wildlife it’ll show in your work, but you still need to shoot regularly

Being a wildlife lover first and a photographer second makes patience – the number one virtue for a wildlife photographer – come much easier. Accessible local locations, allowing frequent visits for very little cost, have been hugely important in honing my technique and, more importantly, ideas. It’s a cliché, but the more you go out to photograph, the luckier you become.

I love capturing ‘common’ wildlife because I think they are no less beautiful than their exotic friends and make great muses on which to experiment and watch behaviour. Planning, perseverance, pondering and passion rather than technical knowhow or equipment has shaped my photography, and I wish I’d realised their importance much earlier.

Light plays a huge role in elevating an image from merely average to good, so observe the difference the time of day and direction of light has on your subject.